If you’re new to the field of multilingual marketing, these terms might be estrange to you. Do you want to know more? Then, keep reading.

Localization and transcreation are two translation industry standards that aren’t too different from each other. While translation is a broad term to describe the act of writing texts from one language into another, localization and transcreation are specific techniques for marketing. Their quality will always be defined by customer response rates. “If I understand the product, I’ll buy it.”

Localization, what’s to know about it?

Localization involves adapting the translated text so it makes sense to the target audience. Every country has their own way to see the world, so marketing campaigns must appeal to that market.
Localization can even adapt the products slightly in order to satisfy the target audience demands. McDonald’s is a great example, since they localize and personalize their menus to each country. Video game creators sometimes have to adapt their content to the culture of the audience they try to appeal. The last thing they want is to offend any possible buyer.

What’s transcreation?

Transcreation takes localization one step further. When you require this type of service, your objective is to convey the same message and emotion, but in a way that suits better to your audience.
When an advertisement is translated literally, it often loses the feeling behind it and it’s main objective gets lost in translation; even worse, if not done correctly, it may also be offensive to the target culture.
That’s why transcreation is important. Because sometimes it is necessary to recreate the content to comply with cultural norms and send the exact same message of the source material.

So, this isn’t a job for Google Translate. Automatic translation can turn your marketing strategy into a train wreck, and even ruin your brand’s reputation.
This type of job is usually done by professional translators, and then reviewed and edited by marketing professionals in the target country, so the message achieves its goal in a flawless way.